Venezuela: Where's human rights in the narrative?

It’s hard to keep up with the number of unprecedented actions the second Trump administration has taken, but what happened on January 3 – when the US military extracted Venezuela’s president and first lady amidst an aerial assault on Caracas – is impossible to ignore. Also seemingly overnight the U.S. government’s narrative on why they were taking action against Venezuela changed – from interdicting the drug trade to restoring the country’s oil sector.

In this special episode, we look at the many narratives surrounding the U.S. action in Venezuela, and separate fact from fiction. We also discuss what this power shift means for Venezuelans, who have been living under a repressive regime, and a longrunning economic crisis. Our guest is Enrique Roig, an international relations expert whose career has spanned government, NGOs and the private sector, and more than 40 countries. Roig has more than two decades of experience in diplomacy, development and human rights, including extensive experience in Central and South America. He’s testified before Congress about human rights abuses committed by the Maduro regime.

Roig served in the State Department during the Biden administration, as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Currently the Vice President for External Affairs at Human Rights First, he writes about Venezuela and U.S. foreign policy on Substack at Enrique Roig - Unleashed.

LEARN MORE

Enrique Roig’s Substack

On human rights in Venezuela from Human Rights Watch

On journalism in Venezuela and the diaspora:

How Venezuelan journalists broke the information blockade with a 10-hour broadcast of Maduro’s ouster

Listen: MPV’s episode with Caracas-based journalist Tony Frangie Mawad:

Journalism under authoritarianism: An indie reporter persists in Venezuela

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The Making Peace Visible podcast is hosted by Jamil Simon and produced by Andrea Muraskin. Our associate producer is Faith McClure. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.org

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